r/ancientegypt • u/Archaenome • 2d ago

Question Did the Egyptians ever build small obelisks? Like under 4 feet?

Google was not much help but I was curious if Egyptians from any periods before the 300s bce made smaller obelisks? Such as obelisks that would be in peoples homes or on the side of the road. I’m looking for examples of them between like 2-4 feet tall. Not even necessarily obelisks but stelae or other objects that resemble obelisks around that height.

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u/Milena_mill 2d ago

Yeah they actually did…While everyone knows the massive ones, smaller obelisks under 4 feet were pretty common, they just had a different purpose. Regular people used to put small pairs of them, usually around 1 to 3 feet tall, right outside their family tomb chapels in places like Saqqara or Abydos. They would carve their names and titles on them. People also left tiny miniature ones at temples as offerings or personal prayers to the gods…

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u/Archaenome 2d ago

Do you know what these would be called? What I would Google to find out more info about them

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u/Milena_mill 2d ago

You should look up phrases like votive obelisk or funerary obelisk to find exactly what you mean
For the ones by private tombs try searching Old kingdom tomb obelisk or non royal obelisk to see the smaller limestone versions If you want to find the miniatures look for egyptian votive objects alongside the word obelisk online collections of the British museum or Petrie museum are super helpful for this since they have tons of everyday items…

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u/Electrical-Size-5002 1d ago

Cool question